CHINA SAYS WE DIDN’T INVADE A SINGLE SQUARE OF FOREIGN LAND

BEIJING: China didn’t invade a “single square of foreign land” nor did it provoke a “single war” in the past 70 years, a Chinese government policy paper released on Friday said.

Beijing’s achievement in resolving land border disputes with as many as 12 of its 14 neighbours in the last seven decades broke “new ground” in settling bilateral boundary problems carried over from history, the paper claimed.

China believes in resolving territorial disputes through negotiation and consultation, it said.

The 18,400-word document was released ahead of next week’s celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China under the one-party rule.

“China safeguards world peace through real action. Over the past 70 years, China has not provoked a single war or conflict, nor invaded a single square of foreign land,” it said.

“In 2015 China announced that it would set up a ten-year, US$1 billion China-UN Peace and Development Fund, which was officially, put it into operation in 2016. China has always been dedicated to resolving territorial and maritime delimitation disputes through negotiation and consultation,” the white paper said.

The policy paper didn’t name the two countries with which Beijing continues to have land border disputes - India and Bhutan.

India and China went to war over a border dispute in 1962 with each nation accusing the other of aggression and surreptitious efforts to take control of more land area.